View Edit

The North Hall takeover is one of the most significant student movement events in the history of the University of California, Santa Barbra. This event took place on October 14, 1968 in what is now called Malcolm X Hall. This hall was taken over by 12 Black UCSB students to bring attention to issues involving the typical Black student and to create change at the university. Following this event, the students were largely successful as seven of their eight demands were granted, helping to create a Black Studies program at UCSB. 

What led to the takeover

Prior to examining the North Hall takeover it is important to understand the overall climate at UCSB and in America at this time. The North Hall takeover occurred towards the end of the civil rights movement at a time of mass protests and student movements around the country and the world. Many Black people around the country were rebelling. They disrupted classes in high schools and colleges, and on university campuses, and were demonstrating in places of employment because they were sick and tired of the way whites had made such a production of race and color. This was true at UCSB as well. UCSB was still in its early years of existence and was predominantly a white school. There were very few minorities enrolled at UCSB at this time. Most of the Black students at the university during this time were athletes. However, Black students often stuck together because of the many obstacles they had to face on a regular basis. Black students had to to deal with and “accept, without flinching, the many racist verbal abuses of their coaches, teachers, or other agents of academia.” This really united the Black students who were enrolled at UCSB at the time. As one of the participants in the 1968 takeover recalled in 2015:

As 1968 wore on, [students] got to the point where [they] could no longer tolerate abuse, either from the standpoint of racial insensitivity, ignorance, poor communication, and lack of respect for students, or from the standpoint of [the] complete lack of representation on campus. There was one Black instructor, but no Black studies or Black curriculum. There were forty to sixty Black students, maximum, in 1968. 

This idea of more representation came from the rising popularity of “electoral politics.” According to Murad Rahman the true trigger of the takeover came as a result of 

...rising frustration with the rumored passive-aggressive racism of UCSB’s deified Athletic Director Jack “Cactus” Curtice, whose unrivaled record of UCSB football wins, unconquerable passing game, and central role in UCSB’s football program achieving NCAA Division I status made him a living bronze statue around which the campus establishment gathered and covertly knelt. Complaints lodged against Coach Curtice by the black athletes in his charge fell on deaf ears, or elicited vague promises of investigation which never came to pass.

As a result, the Black students took matters into their own hands. The Black Student Union then decided to have a meeting to do something. Murad Rahman recalled further:

The students from BSU said, ‘Yes, let's take the chancellor's office.’ We had already done research, and it was decided that the chancellor's office was not to our strategic advantage because you could get in, but you couldn't get out. As a result, it was decided that the best thing to do was to take North Hall. It was defensible; moreover, it had a strategic advantage in that it housed the only major computer on campus. We wanted to have something in which there was a stake, and we believed that the administration would not want to give up the computer or would be a little reluctant to compromise it. 

After two weeks of planning they were ready to take North Hall. 

October 14, 1968

“When the administration ignored their grief, Black students turned towards each other to fight against the injustice they experienced on campus.” Murard Rahaman described the first moments of the takeover at a discussion panel at UCSB in 2015. He stated that they 

...moved in on the building at about six in the morning. Everything went well. We timed the amount of time it would take to lock down North Hall and make it safe and secure. The only major problem was that there were scientists working in the building. They were absolutely astounded by what was going on; they must have thought it was something out of a comic book because it seemed like something they could not imagine taking place. We politely and diplomatically asked them to please leave the premises, and told them that North Hall was now being occupied and taken over by the Black Student Union. They kind of said, "Yeah, right," "We are going to stay here and finish our work," and "You don't mind if we stay here, do you?" To that we answered, "Perhaps you didn't hear us. We would like for you to respectfully and kindly leave right now." They continued to resist. Finally, someone in our group said, "If you don't get your 'blankety blank' out of this building, you won't be doing science for anybody, anywhere." We then escorted them out with the fire extinguisher. After that degree of assistance, they left. The building was then ours.

The Black students who took over North Hall were all male and had strategically targeted North Hall to prevent violence or conflict with the school and police. The students who took the hall were: Jim Johnson, Arnold Ellis, Maurice Rainey, Tom Crenshaw, Dalton Nezy, Ernest Sherman, Booker Banks, Mike Harris, Vallejo. Kennedy, Stan Lee, Don Pearson, and Randy Stewart.  The students gave eight demands to the university administration. The demands stated that there must be: 

the establishment of a commission designed to investigate problems resulting from personal or individual racism, the development of a college of Black Studies, the reaffirmation of President Hitch's directive calling for increased hiring of minority persons, the hiring of a black female counselor for the Educational Opportunity Program (EOP) , the appointment of black coaches "whenever this becomes possible,” the non-condonement of any harassment by any students, whatever color, the firing of Athletic Director Jack Curtice and Arthur Gallon, head of the Physical Activities department, and the development of a community relations staff to be ‘actively prosecuted. 

The UCSB student newspaper El Gaucho reported the next day that “The blacks also demanded total amnesty, and said they would not leave the building until it was granted.” As the day went on conflicts quickly arose between the university faculty and the students as there were mixed reactions to the taking of North Hall. 

Santa Barbara News Press Oct. 14 1968

Santa Barbara News Press Oct. 15 1968

Many people originally viewed the Black protesters as disruptive and angry, but this overall rhetoric shifted as the day went on.  “The first indication that the crowd was no longer ‘anti-them’ was when someone sent up some grapes.” Suddenly 

...other people joined the protest so that eventually there were other people in there with the twelve original occupiers, some of whom were not Black. But they were all men, not women. First the leadership of the Chicano student organization went up the side of the building and into the window around two-thirty. Of course, when the grapes came out, they were compelled to go in. And the white students, who eventually became the activists-the SDS-went in.

Towards the afternoon, Chancellor Vernon Cheadle, under pressure to immediately evict the students and to accept the BSU demands, chose to accept all of the Black students’ demands, except for one, and to let the Black students walk free without being arrested.As a result, the Black students left the North Hall and reopened it to the public. 

October 15, 1968

Following the north hall takeover university administrators debated the ways in which to discipline the Black protestors as well as the white agitators who counter-protested the takeover on October 14, 1968. The Black students were given suspended sentences. On October 15 the Legislative Council, a committee and faculty run legislative body, issued a statement on the North Hall Takeover and and the protests involved about it.  “Seven members of Leg Council issued a statement sympathizing with the grievances of the Black students who took over North Hall, but condemning the actions of "white agitators who (acted) irresponsibly.” The statement also addressed the actions of the Vice Chancellor and the Dean of students. The statement praised Vice Chancellor Stephen Goodspeed and Dean of Students Lyle Reynolds for their handling of the situation. The Legislative Council also arranged a hearing on October 16th to talk about the next steps the university will take concerning the white agitators and Black protestors. This hearing will talk about the “implementation of the agreement (between the black students and the administration)." 

October 16, 1968

Following the statements given by the Legislative Council on October 15th a rally took place on October 16th to talk about how to implement the demands created by the Black protestors. The rally attracted over 500 people who listened to A.S. President Paul Sweet, Executive Vice President George Kieffer, Leg Council Representative Jim Gregory and Vice Chancellors Stephen Goodspeed, Ray Varley and Russell Buchanan discuss campus activism and answer questions from the crowd. The Chancellor also set up a meeting to deal with any  people who disagreed with the actions of the Black protestors. Vice Chancellor Buchanan agreed to a meeting with any concerned students on October 28 in Campbell Hall to discuss white grievances. Many Black students largely opposed this rally as it gave a platform to the white counter-protesters. Black students further expressed dissatisfaction over the rally, as many labelled it “whitewashed” and pointed to its failure to adequately discuss the issues raised by Monday’s protest. 

October 18, 1968

The Legislative Council sent the Regents resolutions about north hall. The Legislative Council did not retract its previous statements on the role of the whites in Monday’s incident. They were no longer willing to discuss this issue. Likely because of the backlash they faced from the African American community following the rally on the 16th. The resolution presented to the regents stated that the Legislative Council “sympathizes with grievances posed by the Black students at UCSB. [They] firmly believe that the actions of Monday can have positive benefits for the entire University community.” The legislative council also passed a resolution “aimed at opening up new lines of communication which they felt had been throttled by the Faculty Club. The resolution, jointly offered by Jim Gregory and Mike Nagler, urged the opening of the Faculty Club during the daytime hours for students, faculty, and administration alike. The council believed that by extending the club to students and faculty it would further increase communications between the two groups and thus create a better learning environment. Additionally the Legislative Council also included articles from Wednesday's statement which praised Dr. Goodspeed and Dean Reynolds, supported the Judicial Board and Chancellor's decision of suspended suspension, and recognized the importance of the understanding reached.

October 21, 1968

On October 21st, a week after the taking of North Hall, the academic senate reconvened to come up with a solution of how to react to the protest. “The Senate met in a “committee of the whole*’ for most of the meeting, trying to come up with a consensus opinion which would adequately express the opinion of the body.” The meeting primarily focused on one of three resolutions that were proposed. “One of the resolutions was almost immediately challenged because it required automatic expulsion for those occupying University buildings or in any way disrupting academic or administrative functions. A member of the Senate pointed out that expulsion is the one degree of discipline which can be meted out only by the President of the University.” The main resolution that was talked about during the meeting was the Addison resolution. “The Addison resolution, while also stating that the senate could not ’«condone protests that interfere with the educational protests,” declared that the body “accepts the task of removing all traces of racism and Injustice. This resolution had four specific clauses which dealt with the charges raised against the Athletic Department by Black athletes, the development of a Black Studies curriculum, a committee to recommend possible improvements in the way student grievances are acted upon, and the recruitment of qualified minority faculty.” As the senate reconvened to discuss the resolutions available, Governor Ronal Reagan added his own input on the topic in the Santa Barbara News Press.

.

Overall, Governor Reagan largely disagreed with the ways in which the university dealt with the situation, bringing even more national attention and controversy to UCSB.

October 23, 1968

More and more controversy continued to unfold after the north hall takeover as Dr. Frost, assistant professor of history, took measures to drop any members of his classes that participated in Monday’s protest. When Frost was interviewed, he stated that he was “particularly angered with the seizure of North Hall because it prevented the meeting of eight History 4A discussion sections. [So, I] therefore took steps to drop anyone involved from my classes. It turned out that only one student from History 4A was among the twelve under suspended suspension. The next day he came to see me and we discussed the situation in an atmosphere of mutual respect.” Later, however, the University administration informed the public that faculty cannot remove a student from a class and that only students can remove themselves from the class. 

Later Effects

The stand made by the Black protestors and the Black Student Union on October 14th, 1968 had a large effect on the overall discussion of race at UCSB. They were able to create a Black Studies program that was established in 1968. In Fall 1969, the program enrolled 83 students. It also sparked mass change in fields outside of the Black Studies program as the creation of the program led to the creation of the Chicano Studies and Gender Studies programs. The students at the time didn’t necessarily realize the significance of this event until years later. Murad Rahamn, chair of Black Studies in 1968 said, that he “doesn’t think in retrospect we fully understood or comprehended the significance and the lifetime gravity that that event represented” until years after we graduated. Overall, the statement made by the 12 Black men in North Hall changed UCSB forever into a more tolerant university. Below are some of the figures and information about the Black Studies program following the takeover. All of these documents can be found in the UCSB special collections department referenced by these two links: https://oac.cdlib.org/search?query=ucsb+black+studies+records&x=0&y=0 or https://oac.cdlib.org/findaid/ark:/13030/kt5w1035hs/dsc/?query=black%20students%20union%20ucsb#c02-1.3.10.1.8

         Department of Black Studies Student to Faculty Ratio 1969-1977

Department of Black Studies Budget Estimate in 1969

Cover Letter Black Studies Original Proposal 

Research

In my original search for information on the North Hall takeover I first went through the UCSB library online database. In the database, I found the link to a panel discussion of a few key people who were involved in the takeover. I also found links to several books about the Black Studies department. I checked these books out at the library, but I was unable to find any information on the North Hall takeover. Second, I did a general search on google about the North Hall takeover and found screenshots of the newspaper, El Gaucho. I couldn’t find any links to the newspaper articles so I searched the date of the event on the Alexandria Digital Research Library and I was able to find the newspaper articles. The newspaper articles however, didn’t talk much about the later effects of the North Hall takeover so I did another general search on the web and got access to a few local Santa Barbara newspapers that discussed this event. Finally, I visited the special collections department at the University of California, Santa Barbra to get more primary sources on the topic. While in this department I looked at the Department of Black Studies Records and the Student Organizations Collection Series. 

About the Author: I am a second year History major at UCSB. I did this project for my History 9 Course about Historical Methods and student movements. I chose to focus on the North Hall takeover because it talks about how Black students at UCSB were able to fight for their rights. I am particularly interested in this subject as I, myself am a Black student and I love learning about the civil rights movement. 

Contact Info:

Works Cited

Special Collections

  • Department of Black Studies Records Box 4, Folder 6: Original Formation of Black Studies 1968-1971, Folder 8: Proposal for Black Studies and Chicano Studies 1969, University of California, Santa Barbara, Department of Black Studies Records, Department of Special Collections, UC Santa Barbara Library, University of California, Sanata Barbara
  • Student Organizations Collection Series , 1968, Student Organizations Political/Protest Box 4 Folder 21: North Hall Occupation Clippings, University of California, Santa Barbara, Department of Special Collections, UC Santa Barbara Library, University of California, Santa Barbara.  
  • Woo, Frances, “North Hall Takeover,” A.S. Living History Project, https://livinghistory.as.ucsb.edu/north-hall-takeover/, accessed: November 26, 2019. 
  • Wing, Jeff, “The Taking of North Hall” Santa Barbra Sentinel, http://santabarbarasentinel.com/blog/2015/the-taking-of-north-hall/, accessed: November 26, 2019. 
  • “Black Electoral Outcomes and Policy Impacts: A Review of the Literature:” Wilson, Hugh A., Black Studies: Theory, Method, and Cultural Perspectives (Washington State Press 1990).
Edit tags